Registration Open for Summer Camps at Opera Theatre

St. Louis, MO, March 28, 2012 – Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has opened registration for its annual week-long summer camps – Opera Camp for students grades 4 – 8 and Spring Training, a vocal camp for high school singers. Both programs take place during the Wells Fargo Advisors 2012 Festival Season and include tickets for students to see a live performance of one of Opera Theatre’s internationally acclaimed productions. Each week of camp includes five full days of fun and music. Registration is $160 per week.

Opera Camp

Grades 4-8June 4-8, 2012 at City Academy in St. LouisJune 18-22, 2012 at Edgar Road Elementary School in Webster Groves8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

In these week-long camps offered in two St. Louis-area locations, students grades 4-8 participate in all the things that go into Opera Theatre’s productions - including singing, dancing, writing words and music, making instruments, and learning about costumes and makeup, lighting and set design. Campers will also tour backstage, work with Opera Theatre professionals and leading music educators, and see a performance of the much-anticipated American premiere of Alice in Wonderland, by renowned Korean composer Unsuk Chin and Tony-award winner David Henry Hwang.

Opera Camp is made possible by lead corporate sponsor Edward Jones and with generous support from Fox Performing Arts Foundation.

Spring Training Vocal Camp

Grades 9-12May 29-June 1, 2012June 4-8, 2012Community Music School on the campus of Webster University9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Students in these week-long camps will receive daily private voice lessons, vocal coaching, and classes in movement, acting, dance, and Alexander Technique. They also gain practical experience at afternoon mini-recitals, and attend an opera scene rehearsal and performance with Opera Theatre singers, a live performance of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd or Bizet’s Carmen, and classes in opera set design and makeup. Students are taught by faculty, including Jolly Stewart, Retired Director of Opera Programs at Washington University and Principal Stage Director at Union Avenue Opera, as well as staff members of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Washington University, Webster University, and SIU-Edwardsville.

Spring Training is underwritten by Monsanto Fund and is an extension of Opera Theatre’s nationally award-winning Monsanto Artists-in-Training program.

Registration for both camps is limited and spaces are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. To register, contact Dan Mayo, Opera Theatre Education Assistant at (314) 963-4251 or 251@opera-stl.org.

About Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is one of the leading American festival opera companies, known for a spring season of inventive new productions, sung in English, featuring the finest American singers and accompanied by members of the St. Louis Symphony. As of 2011, Opera Theatre has presented 22 world premieres and 22 American premieres – which is perhaps the highest percentage of new work in the repertory of any U.S. company. Described by The Sunday Times of London as “one of the few American companies worth the transatlantic fare,” and by Opera Today as “the leading summer opera destination in the United States,” Opera Theatre of Saint Louis welcomed visitors from 45 states and 12 foreign countries in 2011. Although the size of the theater limits box office income to 26% of the budget, the company has consistently produced work of the highest quality while never accumulating a deficit.

Opera Theatre is a sustaining member of the Arts & Education Council of Greater Saint Louis, and receives major support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Regional Arts Commission, and the Missouri Arts Council.